Sunday, April 09, 2006

Star of David Bibliography

1. Talmud, Passover tractate pp. 107, second page (Magen David (Star of David) was mentioned for the first time in the context of the blessings that are said in the Haphtarah)
2. Yehuda Hadassi, Eshkol Hacoffer, (Hebrew), 12th century (the author calls the hexagram (star with 6 points) by the name Magen David (Star of David).
3. Gershom Scholem, "The Star of David: History of a Symbol," in The Messianic Idea in Judaism (New York: Schocken, 1972
4. Franz Rosenzweig, "The Star of Redemption", ISBN 0-299-20720-X , Translated by Barbara E. Galli, (the relationships between God, humanity and world as they are connected by creation, revelation and redemption" – excerpt from Wikipedia) ("Rosenzweig composed The Star of Redemption into the form of a geometric structure to reflect the Star of David as a picture of reality.The work is in three parts each with three books beginning with an introduction and ending with an epilogue or a transitional "gate" into the next book").
5. Uri Ofir, "Hadegel book", Sefer Lakol , 2001 (Hebrew)
6. Uri Ofir, "The Emblem Book", Sefer Lakol, 2002, (Hebrew)
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_David
8. http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%92%D7%9F_%D7%93%D7%95%D7%93 (Hebrew)
9. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=38&letter=M&search=magen%20david
10. W. Gunther Plaut, "The Magen David: How the Six-Poined Star Became an Emblem for the Jewish" ("All Jews now put it on their shields; it has become their Magen, their protection. It belonged to David in legend and folklore, and under his name it became the property of the whole Jewish people.")
11. M Costa, "Hatakh ha-zahav, hotam Shelomoh u-magen-David", Poalim, 1990 (Hebrew)
12. Abigail Pogrebin, "Stars of David : Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish" ("60 interviews conducted by journalist Pogrebin explore the thoughts of well-known artists, politicians and others in the public eye on the complexities of Jewish identity"… Sarah Jessica Parker, Dustin Hoffman, William Kristol, Gloria Steinem and others).
13. Scott R. Benarde, "Stars of David: Rock'N'Roll's Jewish Stories" , 2003 ("how Judaism has shaped and influenced the makers of rock music over the past fifty years").
14. Shlomo Weiss, "The Structure of Creation : The Star of David as a Blueprint of the Universe" ,Thiele ,2006 ISBN: 1-4196-2254-4 ("How and why our world was created")
15. W. T Reid, "The spiritual symbolism of the Star of David", Ohio Messianic Testimony, 1943
16. R Brasch "The star of David", Angus and Robertson Sydney, Australia, 1956
17. Abram Poljak, "The cross in the Star of David", The Jewish Christian Community Press,1938
18. Asher Eder, "The Star of David", Jerusalem, Rubin Mass, 1987, 139 pages ("Comprehensive study of the meaning and history of this ancient Jewish symbol").
19. J. Leite de Vasconcellos (1858-1941), Signum Salomonis (Solomon's Seal), 1918 [in Portugese]. Vasconcellos suggests that the hexagram entered Portugal through Jews who settled there before the Roman period.
23. Kanof, Abram, Jewish symbolic art, Jerusalem Gefen Publishing, 1990 ISBN 965-229-055-6
24. Barkan Ze'ev, Star of David album, Jerusalem, 2008, Private Publishing
25. The Mystery Of The Menorah And The Star Richard A. Freund University of Hartford in
Nationalism, Zionism and ethnic mobilization of the Jews in 1900 and beyond‏ ed. Michael Berkowitz, 2004 ISBN 9004131841
26. Hohertz, Edmund,  History of a symbol: the Hexagram. A historic review of the use of the Star of David. Num, Apr77, 12pp, illus. (coins)
By American NumismaticSociety
Published 1947 American Numismatic Society
27. Geal Alan, On Hexagrams (and heraldry).
28. The symbolism of the pentagram in West european rock art: a semiotic approach by Fernando Coimbra, 2011
29. The Universal Kabbalah by Leonora Leet, 2012, Chapter one

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Smadar Yaaron

theater magen david
Magen DAvid picture  is courtesy of Smadar Yaaron with whom I spoke today on the phone. I promised to go see her show when it comes to Jerusalem.

Star of David in Addis Ababa

ethiopia magen david  jewish
Ethiopian students on their walk to their classes at the Beta Israel School in Addis Ababa pass by a hand-drawn Magen David. For these students the Magen David is a very powerful symbol, as opposed to many Israelis who are "too" used to see it.
Copirights: Natalie Behring ("chinapix") from Flickr 

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Star of David in the Theater


In "Wishuponastar - A Fatal Love Story" Smadar Yaaron, an Israeli actress, plays the role of a woman who wants to marry the Star of David in order to give birth to the Messiah.

Picture is Courtesy of 1yen from Flickr

Star of David on the One Dollar Bill



On the one dollar bill at the back there's an Eagle. Above the Eagle's head there are stars in the shape of the six pointed Star of David.

The one dollar bill is a replica of The Great Seal of the United States, which was made in 1782.
IMHO the 13 stars are arranged in the form of the double tetraktys.

In the Morgan Coin 1899, produced in New Orleans, the six pointed symbol is plainly visible. The Barber Half Dollar 1892-1915 had the 6 pointed star on the obverse, and the 5 pointed star on the reverse.

French anti-Semitic and anti-War message from 1942 analyzes the symbols of the American dollar as symbols of a conspiracy:

- The Eagle of Israel
- The Triangle
- The Eye of Jehovah or the Masonic Eye
- 13 letters of the motto
- 13 stars in the halo
- 13 arrows
- 13 branches of an olive tree
- 13 steps of the unfinished pyramid

From Lindsey Galloway, "The Signs Still Point to Ross," U.S. News & World Report, 14 August 2006
Philadelphia upholsterer Betsy Ross is the reason that the United States has five-pointed stars on its flag instead of six-pointed ones. When George Washington and the secret committee organized to create the flag visited Ross in June 1776, Ross objected to the design because the six-pointed star was commonly employed in English heraldry. She demonstrated the ease of making the new five-pointed star by folding a piece of paper and creating the star with a single scissor snip

Monday, April 03, 2006

Who Made The First Star of David?

Uri Ofir showed in his research about The Jewish origin of the Star of David  that the first Star of David appeared in the candlestick (The Menorah) and that the candlestick was made by itself, not by a human being. 

For me this was a very surprising information, and I think that there are many people who are interested in the Star of David at least as I do who don't know about this research…
Photo is courtesy of Uri Ofir

Star of David Menora with 7 Candle Holders

Star of David Menora with 7 Candle Holders near the Shield of david. Made by Uri Ofir. Mikraor Exhibition in Yavne Municipal Library. 3 April 2006.